Amusements and things that didn't make it into our story

There are a lot of things that don’t make it into any given news
story. When you attend an event as a reporter, such as Republican presidential
candidate Mitt Romney’s visit to Union Terminal last Saturday (as I did), you
wait in line for about an hour, then wait inside for another hour while
security checks every visitor.
During that time, you’re talking to people who are attending,
taking notes to provide color for the story (things such as what songs are
playing, slogans on shirts or signs, the general mood or atmosphere) and
getting information from the event staff, such as how many tickets were given
out, how many people are estimated to attend, etc.
Then there are the speakers — about an hour of politicians
talking. After that, there’s the counter press conference with local Democratic
officials. Then you make phone calls to fill in any gaps.
With all of that material and the average reader attention span
on 800 words, a lot of information gets left out of any given piece. So here
are some things I found interesting from Romney’s visit that didn’t make it
into my story that day.
The most popular attire seemed to be Reds items. Many
event-goers wore Reds T-shirts or caps, and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, who spoke at
the event, wore a Reds ballcap and opened his speech with “So Cincinnati, how
about these Redlegs?” and talked about Jay Bruce’s homer the previous night.U.S. House Speaker John Boehner attended the rally. I remember
seeing him on TV at the Republican National Convention and commenting that he
didn’t look as tan anymore. Must have been the cameras. In person, he was at
least five shades darker than the pasty Portman.U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot also spoke at the rally. While most speakers
stuck to short speeches meant to pump up attendees and introduce Romney, Chabot
got local. He encouraged attendees to vote against Issue 2, a ballot measure
appearing in November that would change the way redistricting is done in Ohio.
Currently congressional redistricting is done by the Legislature, which can
give one party an advantage if they control both houses and the governor’s
mansion. Chabot said Issue 2, which would set up an independent commission to
redraw congressional districts, would allow special interest groups to take
voters out of the equation and have the lines drawn by “unelected,
unaccountable” people. (CityBeat covered this year's redistricting issue here and here.)As politicians do, speakers from both Republican and Democratic
camps tried to spin the message. Portman told rally attendees that we were in
the midst of the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression, a
statement independent fact checkers determined to be false. UPDATE 9/5/12: According to Republicans in the Joint Economic Committee and a report by The Associated Press economic growth and consumer spending have recovered more slowly from this recession than any time since The Great Depression. A PolitiFact check of Romney's claim that it was the slowest jobs recovery was deemed to be false.Meanwhile, in their
press conference after the rally, Democrats had maybe a dozen local
Cincinnatians in a small public area near Music Hall. Obama’s campaign provided
signs and had them all crowd behind a podium where local politicians spoke. For
the TV cameras, it probably looked like a sizeable crowd, which is an old
trick.

Mayor plans to reach out to Washington to remove funding restriction

Mayor Mark Mallory is working to thwart an effort by
Cincinnati’s own U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) to prevent federal
funding from being used to construct a streetcar in the city. Chabot
offered an amendment on June 27 to the 2013 Transportation and Housing
Urban Development spending bill that would bar federal transportation
money from being used to design, construct or operate a “fixed guideway”
project in Cincinnati.
Mallory called Chabot’s move “nothing but a political stunt.” Mallory today said in a press release that he is reaching out to
legislative leaders in both the U.S. House and Senate to remove the
amendment. Mallory said he’s also making calls to the White House.
“Steve Chabot seems determined to stop progress in Cincinnati,” Mallory
said in the release. “He seems determined to make sure that other parts
of the country thrive, while Cincinnati is left in the past. That is not
the kind of leadership that we need in Washington, D.C..”
The city has procured a $25 million federal Urban Circulator Grant. That
funding would not be jeopardized, as the Chabot amendment would only
apply to federal funding for fiscal year 2013.
The U.S. House approved the amendment on a voice vote. To become law, it
would have to be passed by the Senate and signed by the president.
“Far from a necessity, the Cincinnati streetcar is a luxury project that
our nation and our region simply cannot afford,” Chabot said during
testimony on the House floor.
Some opponents of the amendment worry that it could prevent funding for other transportation as well.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, fixed guideway
refers to any transit service that uses exclusive or controlled
rights-of-way. That means the ban on federal funding to those modes of
transportation could apply to ferryboats, designated bus or carpool
lanes and aerial tramways in addition to streetcars.
Chabot’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. (Andy Brownfield)

Steve Chabot’s self-righteous attempt to block federal
streetcar funding found new criticism yesterday, as The Enquirer spoke to
several credible sources who say his amendment is broad enough to affect
federal funding for transportation projects beyond the streetcar,
including bus lanes or ferries.
Mayor Mark Mallory and 3CDC representatives were scheduled
to kick off a grand opening celebration of Washington Park at 10 a.m. this
morning. The $48 million renovation includes an underground parking
garage, concession building, dog park and concert space. A rally against
the renovation and displacement of residents was scheduled for 10:30
a.m. CityBeat’s Mike Breen blogged away yesterday about the park’s
scheduled weekly music series.
It’s going to be another sucky hot weekend in Cincinnati.
U.S. hiring is being weak again.
Walgreens is buying mass drug store chains, preparing to cash in on that ObamaCare money.
Brad Pitt’s mom wrote a pro-Mitt Romney, anti-abortion and
anti-same-sex marriage letter to the editor of a Missouri newspaper.
Brad, for the record, is pro-gay marriage and donated to the 2008
anti-Proposition 8 campaign in California. I have given much thought to Richard Stoecker’s letter (“Vote for Mormon against beliefs,” June 15). I am also a Christian and differ with the Mormon religion.
But I think any Christian should spend much time in
prayer before refusing to vote for a family man with high morals,
business experience, who is against abortion, and shares Christian
conviction concerning homosexuality just because he is a Mormon.
Any Christian who does not vote or writes in a name is
casting a vote for Romney’s opponent, Barack Hussein Obama — a man who
sat in Jeremiah Wright’s church for years, did not hold a public
ceremony to mark the National Day of Prayer, and is a liberal who
supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage.
I hope all Christians give their vote prayerful consideration because voting is a sacred privilege and a serious responsibility.First they were telling us that the Higgs boson is the
building block of the universe. How Professor Peter Higgs says he has no
idea what the discovery will mean in practical terms. Come on, Higgs!
Apparently 250,000 people are going to wake up without the Internet on Monday.
Scientists believe they’ve created the most realistic robot legs ever.

Recording artist Whitney Houston might
have abruptly died last week during preparations for the Grammy Awards,
but the real tragedy was the news overshadowing both the show and the
most important industry news of the week — Beyonce and Jay-Z giving the
media pictures of their baby for the first time.

When taking walks in my neighborhood in Westwood, I see political signs for U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot all over the place.
I’m currently living in what’s considered a Republican and conservative community, but apparently we have a few Democrats here too. It does my heart good to see Steve Driehaus signs scattered here and there.
I like the Driehaus television commercials. He often ends his TV.ads by saying, “Steve Chabot’s not a bad guy. He’s just been in Washington too long.”

Driehaus, Democrats set on recapturing Ohio 1st District, but incumbent Chabot has other plans

Buoyed by a huge surge in new voter registrations prompted by Barack Obama's historic candidacy and the anti-incumbent fever sweeping the electorate, Democrats believe this is the year they'll finally unseat U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, the longtime Republican incumbent.